Listening in Place Project: Jessika Perez and Hatchery in Redondo Beach, California

Today on episode 9 of the Listening in Place Project, Cassie Carroll (Master of Divinity, ‘16) is in Redondo Beach, California talking with Jessika Perez about Hatchery and the power of eating around the table with others.

On the Hatchery: This is a new way to plant non-traditional church communities focused on service and cause. It’s new and everybody is trying to figure things out, which requires a willingness to do that.

On developing personally: Growing up, asking questions wasn’t really encouraged, so to be able to learn about different theologies has been really meaningful. Now I’m looking forward to more engagement in the community.

On the challenge of conversation in community: It’s easier to talk about what we know. It’s important to include that in our communities, but conversations also need to be around what is actually on people’s minds.

On the importance of food: “It’s a way to share and be uncomfortable but still partake together. It’s so foundational to being human.” When you’re around a table, a lot of interpersonal dynamics and stories come to the surface.

On story around the table: My own family history has revolved around the table. I also experienced such an revelatory moment when a group of Muslims were so welcoming to me during the month of Ramadan around their table.

On the Redondo Beach community: It’s certainly not a food desert, but I am planning to go to a community that would focus on those who are homeless.

On experiencing hope: “I’m seeing hope in an organization in which I’m able to dream.”

About Hatchery
Based in Redondo Beach, California, Hatchery LA is a church planting center that incubates innovative, sustainable models of church (Common Cause Communities) – with a goal of launching nine new churches each year and ultimately building the Silicon Valley of Church Innovation. Led by Spencer Burke, this initiative is a ministry of the Pacific Southwest Region of the Disciples of Christ.

About Listening in Place
After graduating with a Master of Divinity from The Seattle School in 2016, Cassie launched Listening in Place, a venture in which she is collecting stories from pastors and practitioners throughout the United States who are practicing new, innovative, and compelling visions of what it means to be the church. And for more from Cassie, check out the presentation of her Integrative Project, “The Pastoral Both/And: A Complicated Story.”